Owners have filed 1,937 complaints on the Saturn Vue, covering 2002–2010. The system named most often is Power Train (457 reports). Worst years by volume: 2003, 2008, 2007; cleanest: 2010, 2009, 2002. 106 reports describe a crash, 39 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 6.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Saturn Vue
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 1,937 Vue complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 457 Read
I turned the corner to enter my street, there is a slight "s" curve to enter my street. I was no more than 50 yards from the corner when my vehicle revved loudly, RPM to 3500 and accelerated , I managed to avoid more damaged than was done, but in the interim I hit a 3' tall brick mail box and caused damage to my…
While I am driving I have had intermittent incidents that cannot be replicated. "stabilitrak" warning light has not turned off. I have lost control of my vehicle while driving twice but was able to pull over after a few seconds. The vehicle will lose power to the dash. When I am turning the steering wheel gets very…
The contact owns a 2008 saturn vue. The contact stated that while reversing at 5 mph, she had placed her gear shifter into drive, however, the vehicle continued to reverse without warning and failed to operate as needed. Due to the failure, the contact hit her coworkers vehicle at a low rate of speed. The contact was…
Electrical System 443 Read
The car was on fire 15 minutes after I parked it. Arson investigator told us that it is a mechanical\electrical problem. The car was a total loss
I have a 2009 saturn vue xe with only 40,515 miles and the wiring in the headliner above the windshield and driver side visor caught on fire! The fire was put out with a fire extinguisher. A burned area about a foot around is now in the headliner. It blackened the white paint on the outside roof. The melting wiring…
A/c unit will stop blowing hot air, this will fog up windows in mornings and on rainy days causeing you not to see and crash no visable out of windshield, can not see..very dangerous
Steering 244 Read
The contact owns a 2009 saturn vue. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 mph, she lost control of the vehicle slid, and crashed into a guard rail. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries reported. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician diagnosed that the steering wheel…
While driving on the freeway, something weird happened with the steering wheel & my daughter lost control of her vehicle. She crashed into the brick wall on the freeway & totaled her vehicle. She was hospitalized & had to have surgery to repair a broken jaw (in two places), fractured bone under her left eye, & other…
I noticed a few days ago that the wheel was getting harder to turn so I made a maintenance appointment for Saturday I was driving to work in Texas in Fort Worth coming from Arlington today and smoke started coming from under the hood I pulled over and it was smoking I was on the highway so to get off the highway in a…
Air Bags 183 Read
I was hit on driver side door..high speed impact.. Fire dept needed to use jaws of life to get me out.. I was unconscious and taken to trauma..no airbags deployed..hits were also noted to front panel and rear..car was totaled
Vehicle (2009 saturn vue) was travelling southbound through an intersection and was struck on the rear passenger side, by another vehicle (traveling eastbound) who did not stop for a red light. After being struck the saturn veered toward the southwest corner where it road up a snowbank and then hit a telephone pole on…
Driving vehicle around 55mph veered off onto loose gravel. Hit a drain culvert flew into the air, slammed down into a ditch, and hit several cut telephone poles used as landscape decorations with no front air bag deployment. Received medical attention and filed police reports
Engine And Engine Cooling 111 Read
Was driving along 35 mph. Vehicle started to smoke pull over put the car in park when I got out to check to see where the smoke was coming from I saw flames underneath the vehicle on the passenger side with minutes the vehicle was on fire whole front end of the vehicle was consumed by flames
I bought a 2008 saturn view and had it 3 months 2,000 miles. August 1,2008. I was driving it down brandt pike and all a sudden smoked started pouring out around the hood and into the car. It had a terrible smell to it, like burning plastic and chemicals. I got out of the car as fast as I could. A guy popped the hood…
The contact owns a 2008 saturn vue. The contact noticed a smell from the vents while driving at 15 mph. He turned off the air conditioner and the smell became stronger. Within seconds, smoke began to emit from the instrument panel. The contact pulled over and inspected under the hood; he saw that the engine…
Suspension 92 Read
I was involved in a car accident on july 14, 2004 while in my 2004 saturn vue front wheel drive. I was hit on the rear passenger tire area and the back tire bent under the car and my saturn was tipped over and spun around with the drivers side down on the pavement. This was not a high speed accident. I was probably…
My son was driving my 2004 saturn vue on monday, july 26, he apparently hit a patch of gravel which caused him to lose control. When he attempted to regain control of the vehicle it went into the ditch on the opposite side of the road where the passenger side rear wheel collapsed and the vehicle overturned. There is…
Problem 1: my 2004 saturn AWD v6 saturn vue has developed a "shudder" in the drive train that's prevalent in the 20 -25 and 30-35mph range under moderate acceleration or coasting. Hooked up to a code reader, no codes appear; however, the torque converter is slipping as it displays a read out of over 8,000 RPM's when…
Structure 47 Read
I was driving down fm 1960 I saw white smoke coming from under the hood and through the vents. I turned off the air condition; then grey smoke start being visible from the under the hood. I came to a yellow light and tried to brake but the brakes did not work. When I was able to get the truck to stop, a cloud of black…
I had been out to lunch and was pulling into a parking place in my workplace parking lot. I eased into the parking space and nudged the gas to get completely in the space. When I nudged the gas, my car accelerated on its own with such a force the car went over a concrete barrier in the parking space and I then hit a…
Car parked and rolled across lot and hit another car. Key can be removed without being in park. 3 additional incidences without crash due to safety function not active have occurred. Was told this model not part of recall.told to call dealer by gm recall operator and talk to them. Left number at 423 855-0550 to speak…
Service Brakes 44 Read
' tamara recall' when coming to a stop, the brake pedal goes to the floor and sticks and when released the car darts away and makes it hard to stop. I have been in an accident because of this and have received two tickets because of the brakes
I purchased a saturn vue 2008 automobile which was purchased on feb.18,2008. I've had two accidents with this vehicle, both due to brake failure. The first accident occurred on june 27,2008, at approximately 7:15am. I was maneuvering my vehicle in a garage area when I stepped on the brake , the peddle went to the…
I was driving on a busy highway, braking regularly with the stop and go traffic, my brakes suddenly locked up on me and I was barely able to get back up to 50 mph. Eventually I was close to highway speeds, but the car wasn't shifting correctly. This happened a few times, and we began replacing parts on the brakes.…
Vue years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 7 | 3 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 14 | 10 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 10 | 5 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 14 | 5 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 14 | 3 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 18 | 2 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 19 | 7 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 10 | 3 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 469 |
| Average complaints per series | 4.1 |
| Worst single series | 18 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.5 years |
A model average of 4.1 hides a worst series at 18. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Vue?
By complaint volume, 2003, 2008, 2007 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Vue years are the cleanest?
2010, 2009, 2002 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Saturn Vue have?
1,937 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2002–2010. Of those, 106 describe a crash and 39 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.